asia cup

The Asia Cup is an international cricket tournament. It was conceived in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was created as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. It was originally scheduled to be held every two years. The first edition was held in 1984 in Sharjah, UAE where the council's offices were based (until 1995).

First edition: 1984

The first edition of the Asia Cup was held in 1984 in Sharjah, UAE, the location of the headquarters of the newly formed Asian Cricket Council. The first match was Pakistan vs the new ICC member Sri Lanka. Mohsin Khan faced the first ball of the tournament. The final was played between India and Pakistan and the cup was lifted by India.

Second edition: 1986

The second edition was held in Sri Lanka, the first multi-national cricket series to be held there. India had pulled out of the tournament due to soured relations with Sri Lanka after a controversial series in Sri Lanka the previous year in which the umpires allegedly made wrong decisions to favour the home side leading to Sri Lanka winning their first ever test match. Sri Lanka lifted the cup beating Pakistan.

Third edition: 1988

The third edition was held in Bangladesh and won by India defeating Sri Lanka in the final.

Fourth edition: 1990/91

The fourth edition was held in India. Pakistan had pulled out of the tournament which helped India retain its hold on the Cup defeating Sri Lanka in the final.

Fifth edition: 1995

The fifth edition took the series back to Sharjah after 11 years. India and Sri Lanka made it to the final by virtue of better runrate than Pakistan as all three teams had equal points after preliminary round. For the third successive time in the Asia Cup, India defeated Sri Lanka in the final.

Sixth edition: 1997

For the fourth consecutive time, it was India and Sri Lanka in the final but this time a confident Sri Lanka beat India easily.

Seventh edition: 2000

Asia Cup 2000 was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh and won by Pakistan defeating Sri Lanka in the final.

Asia Cup 2004

The eighth edition of Asia Cup was held in Sri Lanka after a gap of 4 years. Sri Lanka beat India to win the cup.

Participating teams

Group A

Pakistan
Bangladesh
Hong Kong

Group B

Sri Lanka
India
UAE

Schedule

Phase one

Matches

July 16

Bangladesh v Hong Kong - Bangladesh won by 116 runs
India v UAE - India won by 116 runs

July 17

Pakistan v Bangladesh - Pakistan won by 76 runs
Sri Lanka v UAE - Sri Lanka won by 116 runs

July 18

Pakistan v Hong Kong - Pakistan won by 173 runs
Sri Lanka v India - Sri Lanka won by 12 runs

Result

Group A - 1st: Pakistan, 2nd: Bangladesh, 3rd: Hong Kong
Group B - 1st: Sri Lanka, 2nd: India, 3rd: UAE

Phase two

July 21

2nd in Group A (Bangladesh) v 2nd in Group B (India) - India won by 8 wickets
1st in Group A (Pakistan) v 1st in Group B (Sri Lanka) - Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets